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New Boat 4 Sled

In a shocking development in the current singlehanded Golden Globe Race, Tapio Lehtinen had just 5 minutes to abandon before ASTERIA sank. Tapio was asleep when awoken by a loud bang to find his cabin rapidly filling, this despite watertight bulkheads fore and aft .

Tapio.png

Fortunately South African Kirsten Neuschafer was able to rescue Tapio from his raft and transfer him to a commercial ship headed to Singapore. What happened? Tapio does not know. ASTERIA was immaculately prepared. For an interesting tour of ASTERIA 24 hours before the start of the Golden Globe, go here: https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/threads/ggr-2022.230140/page-24 post #477

Talk about overkill!
 
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Wow- I wonder what failed. A loud bang would indicate a severe and sudden failure. Hit something that pulled the prop shaft or rudder out ? There is so much debris in the ocean now,
In the world of sad and sudden news, I just learned that Jimmy Dewitt passed away. I will confirm this, but I know he just had a major stroke.
 
MillyB said:
In the world of sad and sudden news, I just learned that Jimmy Dewitt passed away. I will confirm this, but I know he just had a major stroke.
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Sorry to hear this, an End of an Era. Jimmy was the best of friends, a wonderful painter, outstanding competitor, boat designer, sail maker, and oh, so much more. One of his prints has hung above my bed for 40 years, and I never tire of looking at it. A remarkable man.

El Toros.jpg
 
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For me, most remarkably was that every time we met he always greeted me like an old friend. I often wondered, “Does he really remember me or is it just his way?” In a world that needs more kindness, he will be missed. The RYC flags are at half mast. He will be missed.
 
BobJ said:
View attachment 7879
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GEM.jpg

1959 Snipe Jr. World's Champ Scott Allan on his Eichenlaub Snipe GEM in a Santa Ana Wind, Newport Harbor. Scott was first to have an aluminum daggerboard on a Snipe, partly because his brother couldn't lift the 80 pound bronze board at the weather mark. Other inventions were the traveler for the jib tack to slide it 5 degrees to windward or leeward for better pointing. Of course that was outlawed. Flying the jib as a spinnaker with a 9.5' Star whisker pole was also fast. No self bailing cockpits in those days.. The Snipe was first built in 1931, before the 110 or Mercury.
 
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So sad for the loss of Jim DeWitt. He was around RYC regularly, with his mischievous grin and a story. Our family's first boat (1968) had DeWitt sails.

For those who may not have known him, here's a bit of information:
https://www.jimdewitt.com/about

There are lots of great Snipe videos. I've been studying some of them frame by frame, since smooth tacks and jibes (with that long pole) take precise choreography. I've also been doing a lot of sit-ups! I'm hoping for a practice session next week with Del Olsen. The first race is December 4th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZacekYT-c
.
 
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BobJ said:
I've also been doing a lot of sit-ups! I'm hoping for a practice session next week with Del Olsen. The first race is December 4th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZacekYT-c
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Does this mean you are now a Snipe owner? If so, Congrats! A cool thing about Snipes is they can be sailed with a mixed or junior crew. Weight and strength not so critical. I think my brother and I topped out at 260 pounds combined. Another fun thing is to enter the Open Class at Inverness YC, sailed under the Portsmouth Rule. Snipes are competitive against Flying Scots, Day Sailors, Lidos, Lightnings, Johnson 18's etc. At least one Snipe regularly shows up.
 
SSS.jpg

What's this? SSS meets Inverness YC 110 Fleet 56 for Sail-a-110 Day on Tomales Bay in perfect conditions: smooth water and wind 6-14 knots. There was Philpott driving SILVER SURFER with Annie on trap, Cliff helming PINK with Milly trimming jib, and BobJ pulling off a spinnaker jibe infront of IYC on David West's GUNSMOKE.

Judging by the smiles, a fun time had by all.
 
Sir Robin Knox-Johnson checks in:

On November 24 at 0835 GMT off the Spanish coast of Cape Finisterre (Lat 42 53.6N Long 009 30.3W), a pod of 7-10 Orcas surrounded my Farr 56 SANJULA and began to barge into her rudder. This eventually broke a steering connecting rod.

The engine was switched off and the boat lay hove-to whilst the emergency steering was rigged. After ten minutes the Orcas moved away, no longer finding a hove-to yacht interesting … but that is only an assumption. The boat sailed to Vigo for repairs.
 
I read about this tonight, and wonder what prompted it. Confusing a sailing, silent boat for food, or what ? Amazing that this happened to him- of all people
 
MillyB said:
I read about this tonight, and wonder what prompted it. Confusing a sailing, silent boat for food, or what ? Amazing that this happened to him- of all people
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Not "confused." Juveniles having fun! Not sure RKJ was aboard.. This rambunctiousness has been going on for several years in that area, and is spreading north as orca pods learn from each other. Wait till the kids get hold of an IMOCA.
 
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sleddog said:
SSS meets Inverness YC 110 Fleet 56...
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Where do I start? The Inverness Yacht Club is an idyllic spot on picturesque Tomales Bay. It's a sailor's Camelot. The breeze was perfect, the hospitality unmatched and the boats were a blast to sail. Their owners were most generous, especially when you understand that the boats had to be prepared, rolled on their trailers out to the end of the long pier, launched with a hoist and then rigged to sail. All was reversed at the end of the day.

This must be done with an eye towards the tidal cycle. Once the water gets low enough, owners may be faced with the "110 slide" across the mud to get close enough to the hoist to retrieve the boats from the water. But all was well-planned and the boats were back on their trailers in plenty of time. The day ended with tasty pizza at the Reyes Cafe in Pt. Reyes Station.

The only hiccup occurred during our lunch break. While staid (ahem) members of IYC were debating the merits of smaller jibs, inhaulers and multi-part sheets, one SSS representative tried to start a food fight. This effort was quickly "squished" and fortunately we were invited back out on the water for an afternoon session. (You can't take 'em anywhere!)

A big thanks to MillyB, David West and Ann Lewis for letting us sail your boats, and to Sled for keeping a weather eye out - 'cause he knows us...

Inverness YC.JPGGunsmoke 2.JPGAnn Jackie.JPGGetting Rigged.JPGIMG_4062.JPG
 
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It was great to have you guys- ANYTIME !!!! Wait-what ? Staid IYCers ? We have mostly refrained from food fights, but rather engage in mud fights, as the mud is more plentiful and the club has often been referred to as " Club Mud " . Thanks for posting the great pictures too. - Not the one of my butt so much but I love the one of our beloved club house with our smiley anchor. Come back for more !!!!!!!!!
 
sleddog said:
What's this? SSS meets Inverness YC 110 Fleet 56 for Sail-a-110 Day on Tomales Bay in perfect conditions: smooth water and wind 6-14 knots. There was Philpott driving SILVER SURFER with Annie on trap, Cliff helming PINK with Milly trimming jib, and BobJ pulling off a spinnaker jibe infront of IYC on David West's GUNSMOKE.

Judging by the smiles, a fun time had by all.
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SSS2.JPG L-R Cliff Shaw, Milly Biller, Annie Lewis, Sleddog, David West, and Bob Johnson. Jackie Philpott is taking the pic. That's the IYC Race Committee shack and windowed wall in the background, both secure protection from the afternoon westerly seabreeze, which blows 90% of the time.

PS: If you want to join the fun, Inverness Fleet has two 110's ready to go that could be yours. Both MIRACLES and PEACH were used in the recent National Championships by East Coast 110ers, but currently need some love and attention and most importantly need to be sailed. Dinghy and spinnaker experience would be required, crew and coaching is available, and helping defray dry storage costs would be discussed, as would membership at IYC, $33/month.

110's will be more fun to sail next year and we have all agreed to race with jibs, not genoas. This will make it
more fair, especially for lighter weight juniors, adults, and seniors. Safer with better visibility to leeward, and cheaper without having to own and stow 2 jibs and choose which one to zip on the morning of the race.
 
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We got a Trivia lined up in the outbox for Macapuno. This one shouldn't be too hard, as there is a hint in the last paragraph of post 5336. What were David Hodges and Sleddog doing this morning pressing a 30 year old, brass, #30 press ring grommet into a stainless steel webbed ring on SMART SHOE's jib clew? Milly probably knows, as she knows most everything, so is DNS

clew1.jpg
.Clew2.jpg
 
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